Mercy vs Punishment

[Amira]

Hi everyone, this is a completely random observation but I thought it might be interesting.

007:156
"And ordain for us that which is good, in this life and in the Hereafter: for we have turned unto Thee." He said: "With My punishment I visit whom I will; but My mercy extends to all things (Arabic: warahmati wasi'at kulla shayin) . That (mercy) I shall ordain for those who do right, and practice regular charity, and those who believe in Our signs”

The part that says "With My punishment I visit whom I will, but My mercy extends to all things" is actually supposed to say, "With My punishment I visit whom I will, AND My mercy extends to all things." The word used is "warahmati," which means AND. "But" would be ولكن رحمتي.

It's surprising how much a difference the wording makes. "But" suggests that mercy is contradictory to punishment, while "and" suggests that they follow from each other. Justice is a part of mercy.

Many other verses are also translated this way. Lots of sentences are supposed to be linked with "and" but are translated with "but." I just realized what a difference that makes.

[Nura]

Salam Amira

Yes, both mercy and justice seems to be an integral part of judgemnt from my readings of the Quran too. They both go together. God's verdict on every soul during the Day of Judgement will be based on justice and mercy. It is mentioned that every soul on that day, even the ones with unfavorable verdicts will be satisfied with God's decisions, which to me implies that there will be perfect justice on that day, otherwise I do not see people who are wronged being satisfied with God's verdict. I believe mercy and justice are both variables on which the ultimate judgement will be based on.

[Student]

Sister Amira,

Very keen observation indeed however و is not always AND for instance it has a function of oath as in Surat al-Asr but it is not limited to just these two and I heard in one linguist's talk it carries 22 shades of meanings depending upon the context. Senior members (hair-splitting grammarians) who are into the language like Br. WAKAS can certainly shed some light and it would be handy if possible to know all possible meanings of this simple but deceptive conjunction و